Wrong Side of the Tracks

Today we come to the end of our study of the Fourth Book of the Psalms. Psalm 90 to Psalm 106

Paul Harveys “and this is the rest of the story”

In spite of God’s faithfulness to Israel (Ps. 105) her history was filled with faithlessness and ingratitude

Great long Psalm which majors on repentance

Our story is one of needing forgiveness.

Not just their family. My family. Your family.

We need to watch our hearts.

All the glory of Israel’s history is confessed to be due, not to her heroes, her priests, her prophets, but to God.

A Call to Praise. v-6

Psalm 106:1–3 (KJV 1900)

1 Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: For his mercy endureth for ever.

2 Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can shew forth all his praise?

3 Blessed are they that keep judgment, And he that doeth righteousness at all times.

Turns personal, as it must

Psalm 106:4–5 (KJV 1900)

4 Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;

5 That I may see the good of thy chosen, That I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, That I may glory with thine inheritance.

We must understand that the story of God’s people is going somewhere, and they see themselves as part of something bigger than their own life

The life of us believers is headed to a promise with all those who have walked before us and with us. Hebrews 11:39-40 “39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith (Abraham, Rahab, Moses, Jacob, Joseph), received not the promise: 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”

Confession of Sins v.6-43

We have sinned. Psalm 106:6 We have sinned with our fathers, We have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.

We need to face this and be honest with ourselves

“The history of God’s past is a record of continuous mercies, the history of man is one as of continuous sin.” Alexander Maclaren

We have a tendency to whitewash our pasts and as a result we are not honest about our present state.

We all need to have the same understanding as the woman in Luke 7:44-48 “44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. 45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.”

We all come to Jesus with sins that are many.

Without out the mercy of God I have no right to stand here. Not the pulpit but on planet earth. God would have been fully justified in wiping me off this planet as I rebelled against him.

“Too many think lightly of sin, and therefore think lightly of the Savior.”

Israel sins during the time of exodus

We resist being shaped by his wondrous works and God’s steadfast love

Psalm 106:7–12 (KJV 1900)

7 Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; But provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.

8 Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, That he might make his mighty power to be known.

9 He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: So he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.

10 And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

11 And the waters covered their enemies: There was not one of them left.

12 Then believed they his words; They sang his praise.

How do you remember this story? Do you remember them saying Exodus 14:11-12 11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? 12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

This is the sin of rebellion rooted in unbelief. Psalm 106:7 Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; But provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.”

Their song after the fact is to their shame and will be short lived. Psalm 106:12-13 12 Then believed they his words; They sang his praise. 13 They soon forgat his works; They waited not for his counsel:

This is not the faith that I want. I want to sing praise to God in the hospital bed not on the way home. I want to shout to the Lord in the middle of the storm and not the next day when my faith becomes site. He deserves more than that type of faith from us.

Song by Shane & Shane Psalm 23 was playing “And even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil”

Psalm 23:4-6 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

We allow our unrestrained cravings to override our willingness to wait for his counsel

Psalm 106:13–15 (KJV 1900)

13 They soon forgat his works; They waited not for his counsel:

14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tempted God in the desert.

15 And he gave them their request; But sent leanness into their soul.

They were a grumbling people. Exodus 16:3 3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Later, they grew tired of the manna and complained again that they wanted meat (Num. 11:4-6).

We operate from hearts of jealousy and selfish ambition

Psalm 106:16–18 (KJV 1900)

16 They envied Moses also in the camp, And Aaron the saint of the Lord.

17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, And covered the company of Abiram.

18 And a fire was kindled in their company; The flame burned up the wicked.

Envy motivated their rebellion. These jealous men, along with 250 prominent leaders, accused Moses and Aaron of exalting themselves above the people. Numbers 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?

Confusing story to me from the perspective I think that sounds like alot of people stepping up to serve.

What Korah (not mentioned in verse) had neglected to point out was that the Lord Himself had appointed Moses and Aaron to their offices

We know this was envy because God said it was and treated it as so

Here we see what seem to be a good, religious act but the underlying motivation was envy

This is convicting because I recognize I have been motivated in this manner.

Ill be able to feed the horses for the first thousand years and build the barn. 1 Cor 3:12-13 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

We exchange the glory of God for something we can fashion for our own satisfaction

Psalm 106:19–23 (KJV 1900)

19 They made a calf in Horeb, And worshipped the molten image.

20 Thus they changed their glory Into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.

21 They forgat God their saviour, Which had done great things in Egypt;

22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, And terrible things by the Red sea.

23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, Had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, To turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

The psalmist reviews the incident of idolatry with the golden calf (Exod. 32)

Paul references this as an indictment of the whole humans race Romans 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

Moses as seen as the chosen mediator

Prepares our heart for the coming Messiah

Reminds us that the wrath of God is upon us for our sins

We do not believe his promises and therefore refuse to follow his lead

Psalm 106:24–27 (KJV 1900)

24 Yea, they despised the pleasant land, They believed not his word:

25 But murmured in their tents, And hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord.

26 Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, To overthrow them in the wilderness:

27 To overthrow their seed also among the nations, And to scatter them in the lands.

This refers to the response of the people to the report of the spies after they returned from scouting out the land (Num. 13-14)

So much missed opportunity. The Lord vowed that according to their complaint, all of those from 20 years-old and upward would die in the wilderness, except for Joshua and Caleb

What God has given to us to do in this generation lets not leave behind for the next generation to do without an example of how to do it.

We give ourselves over to immorality of all sorts

Psalm 106:28–31 (KJV 1900)

28 They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, And ate the sacrifices of the dead.

29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: And the plague brake in upon them.

30 Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: And so the plague was stayed.

31 And that was counted unto him for righteousness Unto all generations for evermore.

The psalmist brings up the incident when through Balaam’s counsel, the people were seduced to join themselves with the Moabite idol, Baal-peor (Num. 25).

Inventions here is not the new iPhone.

Ever had a kid who was just set on finding something to do wrong as if they were just inventing ways to rebel.

Phinehas intervened by going into the tent and spearing the couple to death while they were in the act. As a result, the plague was stopped with 24,000 dead.

We grumble and complain in the face of his faithfulness and wisdom

Psalm 106:32–33 (KJV 1900)

32 They angered him also at the waters of strife, So that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:

33 Because they provoked his spirit, So that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

They push Moses to far. Moses is to blame but they sure didn’t help him any.

This was the time near the end of the wilderness wanderings when Moses lost his temper with the people’s grumbling. Rather than speaking to the rock to bring forth water, as the Lord commanded, he struck the rock with his staff (Num. 20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

Israel sins as they enter the Promised Land

We content ourselves with half-measures and sinful compromises

Psalm 106:34–39 (KJV 1900)

34 They did not destroy the nations, Concerning whom the Lord commanded them:

35 But were mingled among the heathen, And learned their works.

36 And they served their idols: Which were a snare unto them.

37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons And their daughters unto devils,

38 And shed innocent blood, Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, Whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: And the land was polluted with blood.

39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, And went a whoring with their own inventions.

Israel did not fully obey the Lord by exterminating the wicked Canaanites.

God has been patient. Gen 15:16 “16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

God has the right to destroy all mankind.

To gain peace or comfort for themselves, they were willing to kill their children.

Psalm 106:37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons And their daughters unto devils,

We have done this in our nation through abortion and we should be very mindful we do not contribute to this in any manner

We should not negate our responsibility to the next generation for our own comfort.

Practiced idolatry wish is spiritual adultery.

even in the Promised Land

Psalm 106:39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, And went a whoring with their own inventions.

Israel repeated their cycle of sin and rebellion many times over

Psalm 106:40–42 (KJV 1900)

40 Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, Insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.

41 And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; And they that hated them ruled over them.

42 Their enemies also oppressed them, And they were brought into subjection under their hand.

The depth of God’s grace is greater than all our sin

Psalm 106:43 (KJV 1900)

43 Many times did he deliver them; But they provoked him with their counsel, And were brought low for their iniquity.

Gather us together

After retracing the nation’s sin and God’s punishment, the psalmist prayed that they would be again delivered so that they might praise Him.

Psalm 106:47–48 (KJV 1900)

47 Save us, O Lord our God, And gather us from among the heathen, To give thanks unto thy holy name, And to triumph in thy praise.

48 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: And let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord.

This last verses are cited in the song that was sung when David took the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem

1 Chronicles 16:34–36 (KJV 1900)

34 O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; For his mercy endureth for ever.

35 And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, And gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, That we may give thanks to thy holy name, And glory in thy praise.

36 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever. And all the people said, Amen, and praised the Lord.

Conclusion

Great prayer; gather us together so we can give thanks unto the Lord

We should pray that God would visit His church with revival,

to bring genuine salvation to those enslaved by sin,. we want people saved from to praise His name!

bring conviction upon us as we rebel against His love, we want people saved from to praise His name!

to gather us for the purpose of giving thanks to His name

Satan desires to sift us.

Luke 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

The you here is not just Simon it is you.

Satan desires to have us; as individuals and as a church.